Michigan has fired head football coach Rich Rodriguez after three seasons, according to Fox 2 News in Detroit.

Rodriguez was 15-22 overall during his Michigan tenure and just 1-10 against ranked opponents. The Wolverines ended this season with a 52-14 loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, the worst bowl loss in school history.

Rodriguez's job status has been a hot topic all season. AD Dave Brandon elected to wait until after Michigan's bowl game to decide whether to fire Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was also 0-6 against Ohio State and Michigan State, Michigan's biggest football rivals.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Rodriguez met with athletic director Dave Brandon on Tuesday afternoon for his much-anticipated end-of-season job review and was fired, according to our affiliate station, FOX 2 News in Detroit.

Rodriguez, who went 15-22 in three years with the Wolverines, came to Michigan from West Virginia with a reputation as a great offensive mind. But an inept defense led to his downfall.

Now that Rodriguez is out, what's next?

From the viewpoint of Michigan's fan base, this has turned into a pass or fail for Brandon: Hire Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, a former Wolverines quarterback, or fail.

And, according to some reports, hiring Harbaugh has become the unlikely scenario.

Instead, Harbaugh could be headed to the NFL, possibly the San Francisco 49ers, although this is one of those roller-coaster stories that still needs to play out.

So, if it's not Harbaugh, the next most logical replacement appears to be San Diego State's Brady Hoke, a former Michigan assistant.

That's going to be a huge letdown for the Wolverines faithful, who desperately wanted the favorite son, Harbaugh.

Harbaugh is the home run to them. Hoke will seem like little more than a single to left field.

Harbaugh, 47, has risen rapidly, taking Stanford from 1-11 to 12-1 in four years, to become the hottest coaching candidate around.

Stanford desperately wants to keep him. The 49ers aren't the only NFL team reportedly interested. So are Denver and perhaps Miami.

And, of course, Michigan has been an obvious option. Harbaugh is widely viewed as the Wolverines' savior.

It really is amazing what a difference one year can make in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of sports. Go back 12 months. Stanford's defense looked a lot like Michigan's defense at the time. Seriously.

The Wolverines gave up 27.5 points and 393 yards per game in 2009; Stanford allowed 26.5 points and 403 yards.

Harbaugh went out and hired Vic Fangio as his defensive coordinator. Fangio was the Baltimore Ravens' linebacker coach and a special assistant to the head coach, who happens to be John Harbaugh, Jim's brother. Fangio previously had been a defensive coordinator in the NFL with the Texans, Colts and Panthers.

Fangio completely transformed Stanford's defense in just a season. The Cardinal ranked No. 22 in total defense and No. 11 in points allowed (17.8 points per game) entering its 40-12 Orange Bowl rout of Virginia Tech.

Fangio helped turn Harbaugh into the finished product who's now in such high demand.

Meanwhile, over in Ann Arbor, Rodriguez remained under fire because his defense continued to regress under Greg Robinson, in his second year as the defensive coordinator.

The Wolverines, statistically, ranked among the 10-20 worst defenses in the nation this season. Michigan gave up an alarming 137 points while losing its final three games to Wisconsin, Ohio State and Mississippi State to finish 7-6 after a 5-0 start.

As the self-proclaimed last person on the Rich Rodriguez band wagon, even I was forced to admit that there was no chance he was returning to coach at Michigan next season. And that was the case after Rodriguez was reportedly fired Tuesday, three days after his team suffered the worst bowl loss in school history.

So, of course, as most of you had been doing for a year or more, my thoughts immediately turned to his replacement. My first thought, same as just about everyone else, was Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. However, I am still convinced that Harbaugh will be coaching in the NFL and not come home to Ann Arbor.

Part of that might be some animosity Harbaugh holds for U-M for not adding him to Lloyd Carr's staff in 2002. Or perhaps watching his brother's success as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens has lit a fire under him to do the same thing. As the youngest of three brothers, trust me, that sibling rivalries die hard.

Some of it might be coming from the other direction with rumors that neither Athletic Director David Brandon nor University President Mary Sue Coleman actually wants Harbaugh to return to his alma mater.

Whatever the reason, just in case the golden boy does not come home and instead it is San Diego State's Brady Hoke that gets the job, do not throw your hands up in disgust and burn all of your Maize and Blue gear.

Remember the good feelings you had when Brandon was hired in the first place.

The former Domino's Pizza CEO is a Michigan Man who played for Bo Schembechler and we were all convinced he was the guy who was going to help turn this team around. We were happy because we trust in the man and the decisions he was about to make. If Brandon believes that Hoke is the best man for the job, why shouldn't we? Just because Brandon did not pick the guy we wanted does not mean he all of a sudden got stupid. If you loved the Brandon hire when it happened, you at least have to give him the benefit of the doubt until time proves him either right or wrong.

Also, Brady Hoke is one hell of a coach.

When he was at Ball State, I covered at least a dozen of their games as the television color analyst for the MAC Game of the Week. I made a half dozen trips to Muncie, Indiana during Hoke's tenure, and spoke with him for nearly an hour before every game.

Hoke knows his stuff. Period. In the high-flying MAC with some of the most prolific offenses in the country, Hoke's first focus was always on his defense. Doesn't that sound nice, Wolverine fans? He also made as point to mold his defense around the skills of his players. With the Cardinals, he ran a traditional four-man front on the defensive line. At his current job at SDSU, he converted to a 3-3-5 because most of his talent was in the secondary. I know we don't like that defense around here, but if Hoke got the job, he would figure out the best way to utilize his players.

That being said, Hoke also knows how to coach offense. I was impressed when, during a pretty dismal 5-7 season in 2006, Hoke chose to have his offensive line made up almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores. He explained to me that while the upper classmen might not make as many mistakes, they were not as talented as his young guys were not going to help with the future of his program. Hoke was convinced if his young guys got the playing time, they could be something special down the road.

In 2007, the Cardinals were 7-6 and got invited to their first bowl game under Hoke. In 2008, they won 12 games, the most in school history.

None of that happens if Hoke does not coach his guys through the rough time to get them ready for greatness.

Hoke turned Ball State into a MAC power and a ranked team without ever getting one of the top recruits in his state because they all go to Notre Dame, Indiana or Purdue. In just two seasons at San Diego State, he has reversed the course of Aztecs football, taking them from a two win team to a bowl victory in just two seasons. He even has those Michigan ties we all love since he coached the Wolverine defensive line for seven years before heading to Ball State.

He may not be Jim Harbaugh, but if Brady Hoke does become the next Michigan football coach, do not assume that you are getting stuck with a lesser coach.

I don't think DB is a complete idiot. You can't search for a coach in January, your entire recruiting class will de-commit and some current players may enroll winter semester at other schools. They have to already have someone pretty much guarenteed at this point (unless DB is a complete idiot). I think its either Harbaugh or Hoke. If its Harbaugh, that's awesome, but if its Hoke, Michigan will not beat OSU for 20 years.

January 4th, 2011, 5:35 pm

buell17

Afghan Allstar

Joined: January 9th, 2006, 1:16 pmPosts: 564Location: San Diego, CA

Re: ***OFFICIAL: Michigan fires Rodriguez after three season

Blueskies wrote:

If DB hires Hoke, Michigan football is dead.

That article makes me chuckle. Choice quotes:

high-flying MAC with some of the most prolific offenses in the country

He coached at San Diego State in 2009 & 2010. SDSU was 4-8 in 2009 and 9-4 in 2010, including a bowl win over Navy. Of their 4 losses this season, they were by a COMBINED total of 15 points and to some pretty solid teams. Missouri and BYU by 3, TCU by 5 and Utah by 4. Hoke runs a no nonsense program.

Being an Ohio State fan, and a surrogate SDSU fan, I'd like him to stay exactly where he is. He's also signed at SDSU through the 2015 season, not that that really means anything. In the article about his extension, it talks of a Big 10 team sniffing around before the end of the regular season.

I don't think DB is a complete idiot. You can't search for a coach in January, your entire recruiting class will de-commit and some current players may enroll winter semester at other schools. They have to already have someone pretty much guarenteed at this point (unless DB is a complete idiot). I think its either Harbaugh or Hoke. If its Harbaugh, that's awesome, but if its Hoke, Michigan will not beat OSU for 20 years.

Your arguments against Hoke are ridiculous. He is a damn good football coach and he s a perfect fit. If you were an Auburn fan you would have been one of the fools to bash Gene Chizik's hire there.

p.s. to everyone else on board, genius here posted 2 seasons of Ball St record after Hoke left. By the same rationale, you could argue Brian Kelly is a bad coach bc Cincinnatti lost their bowl game and had a bad year after Kelly left them.